“always persevere, always have a great perspective and always have great purpose in your life.” - russell wilson
CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK
CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK
Let’s go team! On day one I want you to do 10 mountain climbers and 10 high knees (three sets total), day two you are going to do four sets, on day three, five sets. Get my drift here, team? You can do these without any equipment and get your friends and family involved!
Benefits?
High Knees are a cardio-intensive exercise performed at a fast pace. It engages your core, strengthens all the muscles in your legs, gets your heart rate up and improves momentum, coordination and flexibility.
Mountain climbers are great for building cardio endurance, core strength, and agility. You work several different muscle groups with mountain climbers—it's almost like getting a total-body workout with just one exercise.
TIP OF THE WEEK
TIP OF THE WEEK
In the TIP this week, I want you to massage the muscle surrounding the knee.
Benefits?
Millions of adults in the United States suffer from osteoarthritis (OA), a degenerative joint disease that has historically been described as "wear and tear" of weight-bearing joints of the body, causing changes in the joints’ cartilage, lining and underlying bone.
The goals of treating this chronic, progressive disease of aging often include pain and stiffness management, as well as joint mobility improvement.
As the largest and most complex joint in the body, the knee is a common place for people to develop osteoarthritis. As more and more research is suggesting, massage therapy can be extremely beneficial.
WATCH the video for a tutorial!
siwicki fit fam
meet lorraine
Name: Lorraine Altschuler
Age: *&%$#@!
Children: 2 boys, Evan (21) Sam (18)
Job: I started my own company 10 years ago - Design Strategics (Web, Print, Branding)
Current hometown: Potomac, MD
Alma Mater: Winston Churchill HS, Brandeis University (BA), UBalt (MA)
Previous Gym: Aeroflex and Results Only in the old days, LifeTime Athletic
Favorite Siwicki Fitness class: Strength & Abs!!!!
Hobbies: Other than exercise? Anything creative/design-oriented, shopping, playing canasta, wine tasting with Phil (my husband!), going to the beach, cooking healthy/making up recipes
Fun Fact about yourself: I am always late to everything – except gym classes! I am never late to set up/start working out.
MEAL OF THE WEEK + SNACK IDEAS
green curry vinegar chicken
Ingredients:
8 shallots, peeled, halved if large
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
1 cup drained Peppadew peppers in brine, torn in half
¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. plus ¼ cup store-bought or homemade Thai green curry paste
3 lb. chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
2 tsp. kosher salt
Place a rack in top third of oven; preheat to 425°F. Place shallots, green beans, and peppers in a shallow 3-qt. baking dish. Drizzle with vinegar, oil, and 1 Tbsp. curry paste. Using your hands, toss to combine.
Season chicken on all sides with salt and rub with remaining ¼ cup curry paste. Nestle chicken pieces, skin side up, into shallot mixture in baking dish. Roast, basting chicken with pan juices halfway through, until chicken is cooked through and golden brown on top, 35–40 minutes.
FALL SALAD HUMMUS BOWL
Ingredients:
4–6 large eggs
5 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. tamari or soy sauce
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 bunch curly kale, stems removed, torn into bite-size pieces
1 lb. brussels sprouts, trimmed, thinly sliced
1 cup store-bought or homemade hummus
1 cup Seedy Power Sprinkle
Flaky sea salt
Do Ahead: Unpeeled eggs can be cooked 2 days ahead. Transfer to an airtight container and chill. Kale and brussels sprouts salad can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Gently lower eggs into water and cook 7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl of ice water and let sit until cool enough to handle. Peel and slice in half lengthwise.
Meanwhile, whisk vinegar, honey, tamari, kosher salt, and 1/4 cup oil in a large bowl until smooth. Add kale and brussels sprouts. Toss and massage with your hands until kale is darker in color and vegetables are coated in dressing.
Swoosh about 1/4 cup hummus onto side of each bowl. Top with salad and egg halves; season eggs with sea salt. Drizzle oil over and top with seedy sprinkle.
POWER BUTTER
Ingredients:
7 Tbsp. virgin coconut oil
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
⅓ cup raw sesame seeds
3 Tbsp. chia seeds
1½ cups unsweetened natural almond butter
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. Aleppo-style pepper
Heat oil and pumpkin seeds in a large skillet over medium, stirring occasionally, until oil is melted and pumpkin seeds are just starting to turn golden, about 3 minutes.
Add sesame seeds and chia seeds and cook, stirring constantly, until sesame seeds are golden, about 2 minutes.
Transfer seeds and oil to a large bowl and add almond butter, maple syrup, salt, and Aleppo-style pepper. Stir vigorously until smooth; let cool.
Power Butter can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Long-Term Health Risks of Going Keto
By Amanda MacMillan
There's a lot health experts still don't know about the long-term effects of the keto diet—but some warn it could be dangerous.
The keto diet hype shows no signs of slowing: The low-carb regimen is still massively popular, with celebs like Al Roker and Jenna Jameson crediting the diet for serious weight loss in recent months.
It’s easy to see why a diet that promises quick results—and that technically allows you to still enjoy foods like burgers and cheese—would be so tempting. But before you try it, it’s important to realize that keto can also have its downsides and that there’s a lot health experts still don’t know about its long-term effects on the body.
Following the keto diet for an extended period of time can be difficult, and even some of its top proponents warn against sticking to its strict guidelines (like cutting back carbohydrates to 50 grams a day or less) for more than 30 to 90 days. Other researchers warn that sticking to the diet long-term could even be dangerous. Here are a few reasons why.
Low-carb diets could lead to vitamin or mineral deficiencies
Limiting carbs to 50 grams a day or less likely means you’re cutting out unhealthy foods like white bread and refined sugar. But it also means you may have to cut back on fruits and certain vegetables, which are also sources of carbohydrates.
That’s a concern, says Annette Frain, RD, program director with the Weight Management Center at Wake Forest Baptist Health, especially if someone is spending more than a few weeks on this type of diet. “Fruits and vegetables are good for us; they’re high in antioxidants and full of vitamins and minerals,” she says. “If you eliminate those, you aren’t getting those nutrients over time.”
It may also be hard to get enough fiber while you’re cutting back so severely on carbohydrates, since whole grains are one of the biggest sources of this important nutrient. That can lead to digestion problems (ranging from constipation to diarrhea), bloating and weight gain, and even elevated cholesterol and blood pressure.
It may affect your athletic performance
There’s no shortage of athletes who have jumped on the keto bandwagon, but some researchers worry that they could actually be sabotaging their strength and fitness. In a recent study in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, researchers found that participants performed worse on high-intensity cycling and running tasks after four days on a ketogenic diet compared to those who’d spent four days on a high-carb diet.
The body is in a more acidic state when it’s in ketosis, lead researcher Edward Weiss, PhD, associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at Saint Louis University, previously told Health, which may limit its ability to perform at peak levels.
Sure, keto can help athletes lose weight, which can be helpful for speed and endurance. “But I’m very concerned that people are attributing the benefits of weight loss to something specific in the ketogenic diet,” Weiss said. “In reality, the benefits of weight loss could be at least partially canceled out by reductions in performance.”
Relaxing the rules can cause weight re-gain
Because the keto diet is so strict, many variations of the diet recommend incorporating several stages. The first stage, usually the first one to three months, is extremely low-carb and allows for very few “cheat days,” if any at all. It also requires keeping close track of your carbohydrate and fat consumption to ensure your body is entering ketosis.
But then, people may transition to a more relaxed form of keto that allows for more carbohydrates or less monitoring—sometimes known as lazy keto, keto cycling, or “maintenance mode,” as Jenna Jameson has called it. The problem here, says Frain, is that weight re-gain is almost inevitable.
“Keto can be a great jump-start to weight loss, but the reality is that most people can't adhere to it for very long,” says Frain. “Often, people are going into ketosis and losing weight, then coming out and gaining it back and falling into this yo-yo pattern, and that’s not what we want.” In addition to being extremely frustrating, she says, these types of weight fluctuations are also linked to a higher risk of early death.
The type of weight you gain back is important as well. If you lost weight when you first started on keto, you likely lost some muscle mass along with fat tissue, says Kristen Kizer, RD, a nutritionist at Houston Methodist Medical Center. Now, since you’re following a high-fat diet, you will probably gain back more fat and less lean muscle—which not only looks and feels different on the body, but also burns calories at a slower rate. This can affect your metabolism and make it more difficult to lose weight again in the future.
It may also damage blood vessels
Enjoying a “cheat day” in the short-term on the ketogenic diet can also have long-term consequences, say researchers from the University of British Columbia. In a recent study published in Nutrients, they found that indulging in a high-sugar treat (like a large bottle of soda) while on a high-fat, low-carb diet can actually damage blood vessels.
“My concern is that many of the people going on a keto diet—whether it’s to lose weight, to treat type 2 diabetes, or some other health reason—may be undoing some of the positive impacts on their blood vessels if they suddenly blast them with glucose,” said senior author Jonathan Little, associate professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences, in a press release. “Our data suggests a ketogenic diet is not something you do for six days a week and take Saturday off."
Too much fat can raise chronic disease risk
Health experts worry about how a long-term keto-style diet can affect the heart and arteries. A not-yet-published study, presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual Scientific Session, found that people on low-carb diets are more likely to develop atrial fibrillation (AFib) compared to those who eat moderate amounts of carbohydrates. AFib is the most common heart rhythm disorder and raises the risk of stroke and heart failure.
It’s not just the heart they’re worried about either. Research presented earlier this year at the European Society of Cardiology Congress found that people who followed low-carb, high-fat diets had an increased risk of dying from cancer and all other causes during the study period. And a recent study in the Lancet also found that low-carb dieters who consumed large amounts of meat and dairy had a higher risk of early death compared to those who consumed carbs in moderation or who consumed mostly plant-based protein.
Most of this research, it’s worth pointing out, is still observational—meaning that it’s only been able to find associations with certain health outcomes and not cause-and-effect relationships. Frain says that, overall, there’s not enough long-term research to know exactly what the ketogenic diet does to the body over an extended period of time—or why it seems to affect some people differently than others.
But she advises anyone who’s thinking about trying keto to strive for balance, not for extremes. “It’s important to look at what you’re missing in a diet and what is really sustainable for you,” she says. “You want to make sure you have satisfaction and satiety from the foods you’re eating and that you feel good and are getting great nutrition from a variety of foods. That’s what will help you keep it up and keep the weight off.”
HEALTH & WELLNESS
The Man Responsible for Russell Wilson’s Mental Conditioning
By: Jackie Cooperman
Trevor Moawad on how he helps athletes like Wilson and U.S. Special Operations forces focus their thinking.
Mental conditioning coach Trevor Moawad works with the country’s elite athletes and executives, coaching them through the strategies that he says enable their success. In his new book It Takes What It Takes (Harper Collins, February 2020), Moawad describes how anyone can apply the techniques he uses with the Seattle Seahawks and U.S. Special Operations forces.
Moawad talked with Worth about the critical differences between positive and neutral thinking, why making a list is always a good idea and how to identify effective role models.
Q: What exactly is “mental conditioning?”
A: Mental conditioning started in the 2000s. The idea is: Instead of seeing a therapist to address a problem, what if you use your mind in a way to optimize it? You don’t need to be sick to get better. There are things you can write down and say to get better. There’s a way to minimize negativity, to see yourself doing something in advance of doing it.
In 2000, mental conditioning was the future of sports. In 2019, it is still the future of sports. What does that tell you? While other fields matured and developed, the industry of mental conditioning has remained stagnant. It’s confusing for the consumer. Most don’t understand what it looks like and how to approach it.
At Fort Bragg, I learned about the aggregate of marginal gains: I can optimize in micro-percentages things that are already good and make them better. I can be Steve Cohen and be worth $8 billion and get better. I can be a high performer and get better. I spend my time with athletes and military units that are the best in the world. The pressure is so significant that they know they need to optimize marginal gains.
This sounds very logical. Why don’t more people use this approach?
Average people don’t think about optimization. They behave like average people not because of their aptitude, but because of their daily decisions. It’s tough to help average people. A great performer has exceptional behavior.
I always tell people the real difference of a great athlete or great team is a sum total of what they do, but also what they’re willing not to do. It’s never been aptitude that’s the determining factor. It’s behavior and language.
How is it different from just having a positive disposition?
I’m talking about thinking at a neutral level, not forcing anyone to be positive but letting them not be negative. The question an athlete asks is: Can it help me right now? What allows me to succeed? What are the characteristics I need for success, independent of how I feel about them?
I’m either going to develop the characteristics or I’m not.
The problem with positive thinking is it requires movement from a current state to a better state too fast for most people, and not authentically. “Positive” immediately speaks to a better outcome, but that may not be realistic. People resent that.
Can you tell me about the role of biases, and how they can influence thinking?
Bias is a real thing: gender, selectivity, racial bias. One of the things that’s really powerful is learning to understand our biases and then to take the judgement away. For example, if I was abandoned by my father early on, I might be biased against men trying to exert authority on me. But that doesn’t mean that the person I’m meeting now has anything to do with the situation I experienced in the past. I need to learn to understand, and realize I’m prone to think this way and it’s not his fault. The first way to tackle bias is the idea of being aware that you do have them.
As it relates to positive thinking, my dad was president of National Association for Self-Esteem. We were only trained on negative and positive thinking. My dad wouldn’t let us watch the news in our house, we couldn’t say the word “can’t” or listen to country music. He never told me to be positive, he just wanted to minimize negativity. He taught me how much more powerful negativity was than positivity.
Now that you know this, what are the techniques you recommend?
Negativity is much more powerful than positivity, and the carrier of it is language. Speaking is more powerful than thinking.
I use research from Georgetown professor Christine Porath’s 2016 Harvard Business Review article “Isolate Toxic Employees to Reduce Their Negative Effects.” She talks about de-energizing negativity in the workplace. Language is a carrier for that.
What if instead of telling people to be positive we just stopped saying negative things out loud?
What if instead of telling people to be positive we just stopped saying negative things out loud? What if we just say, “This is the truth, and this is what we know?” What if we stopped talking about the heat or complaining about coaches? By minimizing negativity in our classrooms and our culture, the mind is free to find solutions and not be bogged down.
You have to take the judgement out, and in every aspect of life. For example, the average married couple speaks directly to each other 27 minutes a week. If that stat is even remotely true, it explains a lot about why marriages are struggling. You’re not born with a gene that allows you to make time for your spouse. It’s a decision. It’s a behavior. If you look at a relationship agnostically, you’re either doing it or not. It’s not right or wrong. The neutral idea is if you haven’t made the time and the relationship isn’t what you want, the past isn’t predictive. If you behave differently going forward, the path can be different.
Besides language, what are the other tools your clients use?
Michael Johnson, the great Olympic sprinter in the 1990s and one of my close friends, was asked by a football player readying for the NFL draft, “Do you write down goals?” He said, “Have you ever been to the supermarket without a list?” You walk into Safeway without things written down, you’re going to find yourself spending 20 minutes instead of five minutes, because you’re there without a plan. If it works in Safeway, why wouldn’t you use it in the Olympics? So write it down.
What kinds of exercises do your clients do as part of their mental conditioning and how often do they need to do them?
A lot of it is what we’re going to not do. No one’s walking away from me with a nine-step plan.
It’s incumbent upon me to take them through the fundamentals of thinking: negative versus neutral versus positive. I’ll prove to them that negative thinking is a road they don’t want to go down.
I talk about Roger Federer in the 2017 U.S. Open. He said, “If I ran into a good guy, I was going to lose, I felt.” And then he was out in the quarter finals.
Is being a high performer a collection of gifts or a collection of behaviors? We talk about people who are successful and what they’re doing. We demystify their behavior. Their success is living in their ability to find simplicity.
What do you mean by simplicity?
For Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, there are three things we focus on: great balance, the idea of physically keeping his body in a balanced position, but also balance in his life. Every Tuesday he spends time at bible study and at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The second is great fundamentals: arm and leg placement, how you move and how you run. They’re not right or wrong, they just make football players good. The last thing is being engaged: Sit in the front row, take notes every day, and do things great players do.
It has nothing to do with right or wrong. It is what is.
This sounds a lot like mindfulness.
If I buy a book today at the airport on the mindful athlete, it’s immediately going to go to meditation. Meditation and being present are important, but they are the hardest skills to learn in the psychological field. It’s skipping ahead. The industry has gone to the hardest thing.
If you spend the day saying a bunch of dumb things out loud and listen to a bunch of dumb things, and then use the Headspace meditation app for 30 minutes, what’s the point?
Forget the Headspace app. If you could just not say dumb things out loud, you’d open your mind to be more successful.
You have to know yourself. If you consume news, there may be consequences. We need to know that. If I watch three hours of news, all I’m going to want to do is play in traffic.
What’s the difference between an option and a choice, and why is this important?
You have options all over the place. Options don’t really matter that much, but choices do: Am I going to spend time with this person not? If you want to be successful, you don’t have choices. You can’t do whatever you want to do and be good. That’s the hardest thing for millennials and Gen Z to understand. You might say, “I want to be in a successful relationship.” There’s a finite plan. There’s nothing wrong with not doing it. If you don’t follow what’s agnostically true, and the requirements that are not really choices, you won’t have a successful relationship.
One of my close friends is George Pyne. He was the COO of Nascar and runs Bruin Sports Capital. He makes 10 outgoing calls a week and finds 10 new prospects. He has done this since he was 25 years old. That’s allowed him to be one of the most successful sports businessmen in the world.
How do you recommend your readers identify and involve the best role models in their lives?
If somebody wants something they don’t have, one thing is to identify what someone else you admire has and what they’re doing. I’ll often go see the Seattle Seahawks chaplain Judah Smith. I’ll listen to him talk about how to live life. I’ll take four pages of notes and walk out with a better understanding of how I want to be and what I want to do. That’s a choice I’ll make to have him in my life.
It’s important to have role models. Some of them we never meet, but we develop a relationship with them or look up to them. We don’t envy them, but we study our behavior and model it to the degree they have something to which we aspire. A role model is the physical embodiment of a goal.
What are the essential characteristics a good role model should possess?
Sometimes who we don’t think we are becomes our greatest detriment. We identify ourselves by who we think we’re not. Quarterback Russell Wilson knows he’s not 6’5”, and he was always told he had to be that height to do what he does. He recognizes himself by what he does have, and that’s a real discipline. The world will tell you who you’re not, but it’s up to you to identify who you are. A role model can be very powerful in that.
When my dad was diagnosed with advanced stage multiple myeloma, he was doing everything that he told me to do to help me as a basketball player or a student. As a role model, it was never what he told me, but what impacted me was the way he lived. He wasn’t emotionally very open, but his example was his behavior.
Your bio says your mission is “to motivate the motivated.” Can you teach unmotivated people to become motivated?
I don’t think anyone’s ever unmotivated. I think it’s a matter of when you start to understand that if you want something, it’s not your aptitude that’s going to drive you. It’s your behavior.
